Just two weeks after the ROAR Nitro Fuel Off Road Nationals and an hour away is the track known as TARCAR, short for Toledo Area Radio Controlled Automobile Racing, who hosted the second round of the Michigan State Nitro X Series . This historic facility has been hosting RC racing for decades. The site began racing dirtbikes in the large wooded section near the RC track in the 1970s. By the mid 1980’s, owner Steve Brummett began building RC tracks. Adam Drake, originally from Ann Arbor Michigan, has fond memories of his racing days at TARCAR in the 1990’s when the track was more loamy than today’s tracks. Steve has revitalized the facility over the past few years improving the driver’s stand, pit lane, and Announcers tower. MSCS has included a stop at TARCAR for the past three seasons considering Toledo as part of our Michigan heritage.

The day was calm and race conditions were perfect for a great day of 1/8th racing under the sun. The large turnout experienced three rounds of qualifying and mains for the Championship Nitro and Electric, Buggy and Truck classes . The Sportsman classes were combined to provide a full heat of racing. The track design was inspired by motocross with a rhythm section, burms, hip turns, kickers, doubles and triples leading to a long front straight. Last season’s Nitro Class Champion Mike Legue said, “Always love racing at TARCAR! My hat goes off to Mr. Steve Brummett. He is one of the most dedicated track owners out there. Always working on the track to make sure everyone has the best racing surface possible. From watering, to throwing out Pete moss and attacking the track with a flamethrower! The man does it all!”. Steve laid down sugar to change the level of grip in the track and reduce dust. This drove many racers into tire choices that they were not expecting. As the day progressed the grip changed slightly but the fast laps kept coming.

Nankin Hobbies Nitro Buggy Class

(Top Qualifier Aydin Horne of the Factory Tracks Racing team)

Round#2 brought out continued support from the top drivers in Michigan, Northern Ohio, and Northern Indiana. With 42 entries, the Nitro Buggy class was the largest of the day with five full heats battling for the Top Qualifier points. It was again Aydin Horne setting down smooth fast laps breaking the 11 lap mark in the first round of qualifying. Aydin had TQ’d the first event of the season only to breakdown early in the 30 minute A-main. His initial run would hold all the way through earning him the Top Qualifier spot and crucial points toward the season championship. Austin Horne, Aydin’s older brother, was the closest driver missing the top spot by three seconds securing the second position for the A-main. Behind Austin was Mike Legue and Alex Watzke.

(Austin Horne - Factory Tracks Racing)

The A-main event started at dusk with enough time to complete still under some natural light. Aydin lead the field through the first turn through the dog leg and into the burm. Austin and Mike “Chedda” Legue chasing close behind. Steve Culbert and Ean Reilly capitalized on mid pack crashes and assumed positions behind Austin and Alex. Chedda pressed Austin hard in the opening laps allowing Aydin to build a gap ahead of them. Alex was lurking right behind the pair as the laps just clicked off. The track design produced great racing action. Throughout the final all three of the runners up would hold the second position. It was Chedda that would come out on top after a late race push from Austin who finished 8 seconds back in third place. Alex solidly finished in fourth place ahead of Ean Reilly.

The Electric Buggy class eclipsed the MSCS record books with 41 entries and four full heats. This round Allen Horne threw in his new RC8B3.1 and set the early TQ pace. Always competitive, Allen would say to the guys “eBuggy is the the pit guy class, right?”. The racing was certainly top notch with lap times comparable with Nitro Buggy. Al’s early TQ held through qualifying to secure the TQ honors of the day. Fellow Factory Tracks Racing team mate, Jim Bronson, ran a close second in the loaded field of drivers. Third on the grid went to Chuck Berg returning to RC after a long multi-season break. He ran Round#1 winner, Steve Culbert’s Mugen ahead of Ean Reilly and Doug Burton. The A-main for the Electric Buggy class was last under the lights. Allen lead the field through the opening lap. The dog leg collected a number of cars allowing Chuck Berg a chance to push through to the lead. Ean Reilly avoided the carnage assuming the second position with Tom Erickson following through from the sixth starting position. The backside triple would collect Tom as he landed on his lid sending him to last place. Allen moved into third position rejoining the lead pair. Early in the 10 minute A-main event, the running order shifted many times behind Allen with Chuck leading the way. By mid race the top 8 drivers were turning similar laps with Chuck and Allen ahead with a slight gap. Final spots not nearly solidified. B-main winner, Chris Peterson, had moved up to fourth place and entered the fight for a podium spot. Camden Corron and Tom Erickson closed in as well. By the end of the event Chuck maintained his gap over Allen crossing the line first. Allen held onto second well ahead of third place finisher Jim Bronson. Camden and Chris finished in fourth and fifth respectively.

Competition in the Nitro Truggy class continues to grow. The last three seasons the Championship has gone to Mike “Chedda” Legue who led the 2017 points championship heading into this event. With three full heats, qualifying kicked off with Chedda breaking 11 laps and setting the fastest qualifying time of all classes securing TQ quickly. Alex Watzke also put done fast laps in the 1st round securing 2nd place on the grid. The rest of the top five spots did not settle down until the third round. Series veteran Jay Chura captured the third starting position with Chad Shorkey in fourth. The fifth spot was decided by less than 0.3 seconds in favor of Tony OhBoy.

The A-main began under lights as it was the second to last main event of the evening. The start was smooth as Chedda led the way through the dog leg and into the burm. In the dog leg Jay, Chad, and Tony all came together with others and a pile of truggys was formed. Chedda charged ahead with Alex in tow. Within the opening laps Mike Marshall moved into third place with Kevin Lithgow in fourth as Chedda continued to grow his lead ahead of Alex. Chad recovered from the opening lap pile and passed Kevin and then Mike to move up into third. By mid race Chedda had a commanding lead and had lapped most of the field. Alex held strong in second place ahead of Chad in third. Tony, R.J. Hart and Mike Valentine Jr. moved into a close battle for the fourth spot after recovering from the early lap pile up. As the race came to close Chedda finished well ahead of the field with an wire-to-wire win. Alex demonstrated his ability to challenge Chedda for the season championship but came up a little short in 2nd place. Chad held strong in the 3rd place and final podium position. It was R.J. crossing the line in 4th place, running a very consistent main event. Mike Valentine Jr. was also very consistent which led to a 5th place finish. Notable was the effort from the B-Main winner, Roger Wendling, who finished 6th.

As registration closed, R.J. Hart decided to rejoin the fight in the Electric Truggy class. Entries for this class have been very strong this season with two full heats in qualifying. Early on, Factory Tracks Racing Jim Bronson set the TQ pace with nearly eleven laps. When the third round completed Jim retained the Top Qualifying honors from his first run of the day by less than one second ahead of Doug Burton. Bill Talyor’s third qualifying run nearly edged out Doug but he had to settle for third overall. R.J. Hart and Aaron Buron rounded out the top five.

The A-main started clean as the top five drivers speed through the dog leg and into the burm. Jim went through the double-double smooth as Bill dived past Doug to overtake him for the second spot. Through the backside triple R.J. was able to land it on the inside and pass Bill sending him back to third. Brandon Price sped through the rhythm section passing Doug for fourth place. The opening laps were intense with these top drivers all very close together on the track. Brandon first pressed Bill passing him through the double-double and then passed R.J on the next lap to take over the second spot. Brandon then crashed as Bill put down his fastest laps. R.J regained the second position and then Bill regained third. At the mid-point of the 10 minute main event R.J. was on a super fast pace. Jim crashed giving up the lead to R.J. but stayed ahead of Bill and Brandon who were battling for third. Aaron Buron was in fifth place not far behind. On the closing laps, the leader landed the double-double and rolled to a stop. An apparent ESC overtemp ended his chances to take the win. Jim and Bill were battling for second and found themselves battling for the lead. Aaron was able to get ahead of Brandon and joined in on the final laps. As the tone sounded, Jim had crossed the line on his 18th lap and captured the win. Bill finished 2nd with Aaron in 3rd place. Brandon had to accept 4th place with Tom Frankito moving ahead of everyone else to grab 5th place.

The second round for the Michigan State Nitro X Series was a great success. The event finished under the lights at 11:00PM. The third round will be held at Stateline RC Raceway on Saturday August 5th, 2017 in Fremont, Indiana. Registration will be open from 7:30-9:30AM. Practice begins at 7:30AM for Electric and 8:00AM for Nitro powered vehicles. Drivers meeting at 9:45AM and racing starting at 10AM. Free practice Friday August 4th. Season details, schedule, and results will be posted promptly on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/michstatechampseries.

I would also like to correct an error for the first round race report. The finishing order of the Nitro Buggy class was incorrect. 1st place was Mike Legue, 2nd place was Charlie Maiorana, 3rd place was Brian Borle, 4th place was Larry Komisar, and 5th place was Austin Bowen.